Cockpit
by Joanna Blake
She's the one who got away. But I live for the chase…
I'm a thrill seeker. I fly the fastest jets in the world, and ride my motorcycle when I'm on the ground. The only thing that matters to me is speed. Why would I ever think about settling down?
Jenny Reeds, that's why. One look in those hazel eyes and I found a thrill no dogfight could match. For one wild, unforgettable night, she was mine. I wanted to keep her close but she disappeared without even telling me her last name.
I did my tour and flew combat missions in desert skies. But I never forgot her.
Now they have me pushing papers and training new pilots. I thought I'd be bored to tears. Guess who I run into my first night back?
It's her, my wild-eyed, fiery-haired beauty. Turns out she's the General's daughter. But that won't stop me. I'm persistent and it doesn't take too long before she's back in my arms.
Only one problem. She's kept one hell of a secret from me. She had a baby while I was overseas. My baby.
Now I want them both under my roof. Permanently. I've never failed a mission yet and I don't intend to start now.
Spice Level: 3.25/6 | Story Score: 6/10 | Rating: 3.25/5 |
So my husband and I went to see the new Top Gun the other night and I have to admit: I love jets…and jet pilots. This one basically sounded like someone else’s version of the story and so I read it. BUT! This was a re-read. (I’m pretty sure I go through my jet-loving phase after each time I watch Top Gun.) Anyway, I KNEW this was a re-read, I just couldn’t remember it well enough to not do it again. Within pages, I knew the whole story because my memory was jogged, but I re-read the whole thing anyway.
Jagger and Jenny have a one night stand before he leaves for a tour of duty and while he’s in love from night one, he doesn’t manage to get her information before she’s running out the door in a panic. When he comes back stateside, he’s put in a teaching position and runs into Jenny at a bar where she’s working. They rekindle their romance but things can’t ever be that easy. Details in spoilers because I can’t remember how much the blurb gives away.
Jagger is what you expect. He is a former-playboy who slept with any woman available and he is cocky as fuck. (I’m pretty sure this is a pilot thing, right?) But from the moment he meets Jenny, he wants HER. Just her. Jenny is a young inexperienced, naïve girl. She makes some dumb choices, but when you imagine a young, inexperienced GIRL, you get it. Notice I said girl. Not woman. This girl is not to her woman stage.
This story is fine. It’s one of my least favorite tropes and that makes it hard to overcome anyway. And really, the writing is… Ok, so there aren’t a million typos but the writing sounds juvenile? Like if you would compare a high school paper vs a college paper? Or conversations you have as a 16 year old about boys and what you want compared to conversations you have when you’re 26. It’s good, it’s fine, but it’s not going to light you up inside. The characters are fine but there was nothing holding me to them.
-SPOILERS-
After their one night together, Jenny ends up pregnant. She tries to figure out a way to let Jagger know, but then is informed of his whoring ways and she thinks that there’s no way he could want them. When they meet back up, she doesn’t tell Jagger about their baby at first but she also tries to stay away from him. He is relentless (go him) and gets her, but then Jenny is falling for him and she’s scared to tell him. So she doesn’t and he finds out by overhearing someone else being hateful to her. After defending her person, he asks her, and she tells him. Jagger is devastated that she hid his kid from him and so he breaks up with her but tries to start building a relationship with his 10-month-old daughter.
Ok: issues. Here are my issues:
Really, it’s all one, I guess. Jagger sees Jenny out with a baby and assumes that she’s a babysitter. He even says so at one point and she doesn’t correct him. I CANNOT imagine denying my child. This is why I felt like she was still a girl and not a woman. I can understand her not offering up the information, especially if he was being a dick or unstable in any way, BUT she blatantly doesn’t correct him. Also, Jagger is being INCREDIBLE and she keeps it from him. He tells her that he likes kids. He’s talking to her about forever. And she’s still not bringing up their kid. I’m bothered by her consideration of her child. She was too worried about losing her booty call to give her daughter a chance at having a dad. I’M BOTHERED!
Standalone | 219 Pages | Trope Challenge: -Not on Challenge- |
"Do you want to talk? Or do you want to kiss me?"
He stared at me in the darkness. "Kiss. Definitely kiss."
- Cockpit by Joanna Blake
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